“Having a positive attitude lifted up everyone around me,” Iliev-Piselli, 38, tells PEOPLE. “I don’t dread going to the hospital, but a lot of people do, so I’ll go back, and I’ll be the one who supports others.”

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With the help of her hospital, New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Breast Center in New York City, Iliev-Piselli started the Women’s Empowerment Project, and plans to put on two projects a year for patients. Her first idea was to cover breast cancer patients and survivors in body paint and put on a photoshoot, and seven other women signed up.

“I can’t know before it happens what the vibe will be like, because it’s art, and it’s happening. But it was so much better and more fun than I even imagined,” Iliev-Piselli says.

Carrie Kreiswirth, Marquina Iliev-Piselli and Dana Bledsoe

Casey Fatchett

Carrie Kreiswirth, Marquina Iliev-Piselli and Dana Bledsoe

Casey Fatchett

The day started with each woman picking out a design and sitting for two to three hours of body painting by artists Ashleigh Alexandria, Ralph Serrano and Avilda Whittmore-Walker.

“We would paint something that was meaningful to us,” Iliev-Piselli explains. “One woman had a rose coming out of her chest; another woman chose a phoenix rising from the ashes because she felt like she was reborn. Another woman chose a dragon, because she races dragon boats, and it’s one of the things that makes her feel most powerful. There was this idea of their inside self being portrayed on their outside self.”

(Iliev-Piselli getting body painted)

“It makes you look at your body in a new way, a body that you hadn’t looked at in awhile, or if you did, you were critical. But you weren’t critical this time,” Iliev-Piselli says. “Having something beautiful done, and looking at your body and accepting it is very important.”

Marquina Iliev-Piselli

Casey Fatchett

Marquina Iliev-Piselli

Casey Fatchett

The women felt invigorated a second time when they started posing, and some even went out to Central Park for a second shoot.

“I made them take a few photos first, and then look at them. They’d see the photos and their eyes would light up — their whole expression changes. They look so different from their idea in their head of themselves,” Iliev-Piselli says. “And they would say things like, ‘Wow, that’s me? I look amazing!’ and then they would be so much more energized! So many of the pictures were us just dancing around, and I love it.”

Carrie Kreiswirth, Dana Bledsoe and Marquina Iliev-Piselli

Casey Fatchett

Dana Bledsoe, Carrie Kreiswirth and Marquina Iliev-Piselli

Casey Fatchett

One of the best parts though, Iliev-Piselli says, was getting body painted together.

“I didn’t realize that having an open room where everyone was painted together would be like a therapy session,” she says. “There were women who hadn’t ever talked about their cancer to other survivors. That ended up being one of the more powerful moments.”

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